Norman Reedus Is Getting His Own Show (No, It’s Not Another Walking Dead Spinoff)

AMC announced today that Norman Reedus, who plays fan favorite Daryl Dixon on the hit zombie-apocalypse show, will host an all-new unscripted series about motorcycle culture and history in the U.S.Daryl Dixon has barely been off his motorcycle this season on The Walking Dead, and now the man who plays him — avid rider Norman Reedus — will also be spending a lot more time on the bike as the star of a new non-fiction series for AMC tentatively titled Ride With Norman Reedus.

AMC has given a six-episode order to an unscripted series featuring “Walking Dead” star Norman Reedus exploring motorcycle culture around the country. “Ride with Norman Reedus” hails from Left/Right Productions. Very much in line with the comparable game from last fall, it was still up six percent in early ratings for a 9.3 overnight rating among metered market households.

Each hourlong episode will follow Reedus and a friend touring a different city via motorcycle and checking out bike shops, tattoo parlors, bars and restaurants frequented by chopper enthusiasts. The ABC block of The Middle (1.9 adults), The Goldbergs (2.1 adults), Black-ish (1.9 adults) and Nashville (1.1 adults) were all steady — even with the lack of an original Modern Family. Reedus’ companions will range from actors and artists to local bikers. “There is nobody more passionate about motorcycles than Norman Reedus,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “He is an avid rider and aficionado who is deeply immersed in motorcycle culture.

CBS’ lineup — Survivor (2.0 adults), Criminal Minds (1.6 adults), Code Black (1.1 adults) — and NBC’s block — Mysteries of Laura (1.1 adults), Chicago P.D. (1.5 adults) — were similarly steady. But this one makes sense for the network, who have three shows already that involve “The Walking Dead” universe – the companion series “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Talking Dead,” a talk-show that airs after each episode of “The Walking Dead.” Reedus’s character, Daryl, is often seen on the series riding motorcycles. This show will bring those two elements together for a weekly ride into the incredible world of motorcycles and the people who live and breathe them.” The series is one of a handful of unscripted programs on AMC’s schedule. At the time the cabler said it would be selective in its approach to unscripted series while plowing more resources into its bread-and-butter scripted drama series. “I’m incredibly excited and thankful to AMC for giving me the opportunity to share a passion of mine with our fans, and hopefully a whole new audience. I had a lot of fun filming and exploring, and I hope it shows.” Ride comes as AMC has been more strategic about its unscripted orders after largely abandoning the genre in 2014.

Reedus, who originally auditioned to play Merle on the zombie drama but had the role of Daryl written specifically for him, is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment and attorney Jeff Bernstein.